Warrnambool’s 50-home housing project waiting on $4m election pledge

Warrnambool city mayor Ben Blain says a $3 to $4 million funding commitment at the November state election could be the difference between a stalled 50-home affordable housing project getting off the ground or being forced back to the drawing board.

What’s going on: The Harrington Road key worker housing development has spent 21 months working its way through planning approvals and government discussions, with council now waiting for support to deliver the infrastructure needed to make the site usable.

• Blain told the Brolga the project was ready to move forward, but power, water and sewerage upgrades remained the major barrier.

• He said the project has gone through three expression of interest rounds to find a housing provider since the project was proposed in November 2024.

🗣️ “The design’s there, because they're modular homes, they’re something that can be put up very quickly and can make a really big difference,” he said. “Because it's going to be a long-term lease, council will actually retain the ownership of the land during the period of the project, if it can get up.”

The details: The project would see 50 modular homes built on 15,000 square metres of council-owned land at the former saleyards buffer zone, with a mix of one, two and three-bedroom dwellings aimed at key workers like nurses and teachers and people seeking affordable rental options.

• Council’s planning pathway has been approved by the Department of Transport and Planning, allowing the project to progress, but councillors raised concerns at Monday’s meeting about the time it has taken to reach the planning minister.

🗣️ “In the middle of a housing crisis where a community is crying out for homes… this level of delay is simply indefensible,” Councillor Debbie Arnott told the meeting. 

Why the hold up? Blain said council had been advocating for funding support from both state and federal governments since the project began, but its model had created challenges because council wanted to retain ownership of the land rather than hand it over to a housing provider.

 🗣️ “We in our first EOI actually did find a housing provider. That housing provider did end up pulling out after they had some staff changes, so that’s why we had to go back out again,” he said.

• The mayor said the project remained a priority, but its future depended on securing funding.

Warrnambool’s crisis: The push comes as Warrnambool continues to grapple with a severe shortage of housing.

• Blain said the city had one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the state, with demand particularly high for affordable and key worker accommodation.

• The city’s rental vacancy rate sits at 0.8 percent, compared with a healthy market rate of about four percent. Median rents have increased by about $100 a week since 2021 to around $500, while council data shows about one-third of renters are experiencing severe rental stress.

• Council’s 2019 Social Housing Planning document identified a shortfall of 1,430 dwellings in Warrnambool, projected to grow to about 2,810 homes by 2036 without significant new supply.

Other projects: An $18.9 million Salvation Army and Homes Victoria social housing development received the green light in May to build 14 two-bedroom and seven three-bedroom townhouses on Mortlake Road after three years in planning.

• At Monday’s meeting, council awarded a contract to deliver a $5.3 million key worker housing project made up of three one-bedroom, seven two-bedroom and five three-bedroom units at Shipwreck Bay Holiday Park, funded through the Regional Worker Accommodation Fund.